Front Pages from Around the Globe

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, March 11, 2012

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Monday

The Guardian, London

Putin retakes presidency

Vladimir Putin claimed a resounding victory in Russia's presidential election Sunday, provoking a furious response from opposition activists who alleged that the vote was marred by widespread fraud. At a rally in front of the Kremlin, an emotional Putin, with tears running down his face and flanked by the outgoing president, Dmitry Medvedev, said: "I promised you we would win. We have won. Glory to Russia."

Finessing term limits

Last night was Vladimir Putin's Brezhnev moment. It was when he ceased simply being an elected leader and segued toward a lifetime presidency. Having sidestepped the rules by doing a stint as prime minister (no Russian leader can serve more than two consecutive presidential terms), Putin can now go on and on. Brezhnev did 18 years, Stalin 31. Who would bet against Vladimir matching Leonid?

Daily Star, Beirut

Air strikes on Syria

Syria has finally granted top U.N. diplomats - Kofi Annan and Valerie Amos - permission to visit the country Saturday, but U.S. Sen. John McCain suggested Monday that the time for diplomacy is over, calling instead for air strikes on President Bashar Assad's forces. McCain has previously called for arming the Syrian opposition.

Differences over Iran

President Obama appealed to Benjamin Netanyahu to give economic sanctions time to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, but the Israeli prime minister offered no sign of backing away from possible military action, saying his country must be the "master of its fate." The two men sought to present a united front in the Iranian nuclear standoff as they opened White House talks. But their public statements revealed differences over how to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Wednesday

La Prensa, Honduras

Drug war aid

In Tegucigalpa, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told Central American leaders that his government has provided $361 million in anticrime aid, which regional leaders called insufficient. Biden said the Obama administration is asking for more money from Congress to help Central America fight drug cartels and money laundering.

Inhumane prisons

Juan Mendez, the U.N. special rapporteur on torture, told a press conference in Geneva that there is not a Latin American country that "can boast of having a humane prison system." He described the problem in Honduras as "severe." He said "appalling" prison practices were inherited from military dictatorships of the '60s, '70s, and '80s. In response, the U.N. Human Rights office called on Latin American nations to establish nonpartisan groups to implement standards of treatment of prisoners. In February, a fire killed 360 Hondurans prisoners, many of whom were burned or suffocated to death in their cells.

Thursday

The Times, Johannesburg

Nationwide protest

More than 200,000 people protested Wednesday in all nine provinces. The stated reason for the nationwide strike - new highway tolls and labor broking, the practice of contracting out jobs through temporary-employment firms, at lower pay and fewer benefits than permanent workers - did not mask the deep undercurrent of dissatisfaction over corruption and incompetent leaders. Zwelinzima Vavi, the general-secretary of the powerful group of trade unions, COSATU, said the ruling African National Congress party is creating a system of economic apartheid.

Government apology

Deputy International Relations Minister Ebrahim Ebrahim apologized to Nigeria for deporting 125 Nigerians accused of trying to enter the country with fake yellow fever certificates. In retaliation, Nigeria deported 28 South Africans. Ebrahim could not confirm whether the certificates were in fact fraudulent.

Friday

Aftenposten, Oslo

Viral video

Invisible Children, the group behind the 27-minute video, "Kony 2012," hope their film will help capture or cause the elusive Ugandan guerrilla leader Joseph Kony to surrender. Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army and one of the world's most wanted war criminals, is notorious for abducting children to use as soldiers and sex slaves. By Thursday, the video was viewed more than 32 million times on YouTube. "The result is not a movie," wrote Aftenposten commentator Mala Wang-Naveen, "but an impressive weapon of mass seduction. ... We recognize the powerful and cocky tone of Michael Moore's films."

LSD could treat alcoholism

Researchers at the Institute of Neuroscience in Trondheim believe a single drop of LSD may work better than current medications in treating alcoholism. They say LSD should be used in treating the disease in Norway. The study showed that 59 percent of patients who took LSD either quit or drank less than before.